Safety guard

ABSTRACT

A safety barrier (20) for a vehicle (22) includes a safety barrier portion (38, 100) for deflecting objects from the path of the wheels (24) of the vehicle (22). The safety barrier (20) further includes a wheel well molding (32, 66, 101) to prevent the placement of hands or limbs between the wheel well (26) and wheel (24) of the vehicle (22).

This application is a continuation-in-part of prior U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/227,928, filed Apr. 15, 1994 now U.S. Pat. No.5,462,324.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The field of this invention is vehicle safety devices for preventinganimate and inanimate objects from being crushed or damaged by thewheels or chassis of the vehicle upon which the safety device isincorporated.

2. Scope and Content of the Prior Art

For many years automotive vehicles have been a primary means oftransporting individuals in many metropolitan areas. Buses have beenused with great success as a means of mass transit in these metropolitanareas. Additionally, heavy, wheeled vehicles have been used for myriadindustrial applications throughout the years.

With this advent of buses and other heavy wheeled vehicles, a problemhas arisen. These vehicles, especially buses in metropolitan areas,cause injury to individuals and objects. Many of the most serious ofthese injuries are a result of individuals being run over by thevehicle. Injuries often occur when the wheel or chassis of the vehicletravels over an individual who has slipped and fallen in the road,crushing a limb or other body part of an individual as the weight of thevehicle is applied to the individual. Analogously, inanimate objects inthe path of the wheels may also be crushed.

Similarly, injuries also occur when buses drive close to a curb and anindividual has stepped off the curb before the bus has passed theindividual. In this scenario, the wheels of the bus travel over theindividual's foot, squashing the foot, causing severe pain and injury tothe hapless pedestrian.

Further injuries can occur when individuals exit from a bus. Sometimesindividuals slip as they depart from the bus and in an attempt to regainbalance, grab the wheel of the bus, placing a hand or arm in the gapbetween the wheel and wheel well of the bus. When the bus starts moving,the individual's arm or hand is propelled along in the direction of therotation of the moving wheel. Typically the individual's arm or hand iscaught between the wheel and wheel well and is severely lacerated ormangled. If the individual is unfortunate enough not to have pulled hishand or arm away soon enough, the hand or arm may also be thrust to theground in the path of the oncoming wheel. When the wheel travels overthe hand or arm, the hand or arm is crushed by the wheel.

The liability incurred by municipalities for these types of injuries canrun into the millions of dollars each year. Thus, there is a need for areliable, effective, safety device that will prevent or minimize thesetypes of injuries.

Various types of safety devices have been proposed by the prior art. Forexample, United States patents, (Emi) U.S. Pat. No. 3,784,244, (Gutman)U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,295, (Pearson) U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,290,(Lucchini-Kramer) U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,632 describe front guard devicesthat may be effective in minimizing injury to pedestrians who arewalking upright in front of a moving vehicle. However, these devices donot provide protection for individuals who may be lying on the groundbelow the level of the front bumper of the vehicle. Neither do theyprovide protection for individuals who may have an arm or hand that getscaught between the wheel and wheel well of a vehicle.

Other devices, such as those disclosed in U.S. patents,(Pearson-Mitchell) U.S. Pat. No. 3,584,898, (Wilfert-Gotz) U.S. Pat. No.3,784,226, (Morris) U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,129, (Logan) U.S. Pat. No.4,169,608, (Laine) U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,120, describe coverings for tiresand fenders. However, these devices do not suggest the safety featuresprovided in the present invention. Further, these devices do not suggestcombining the wheel coverings with safety features to prevent injury toindividuals that may have fallen in front of a vehicle.

Therefore, a need was perceived for a safe, effective, reliable, andrelatively inexpensive safety barrier that will protect individualslying in the path of an oncoming vehicle as well as individuals whomight cause a hand or arm to get caught between a wheel and wheel wellof a vehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a safety guard for a vehicle comprising asafety barrier mounted to the vehicle that will push individuals andinanimate objects lying in the path of a vehicle out of the path of thewheels of the vehicle. The safety barrier is positioned with the loweredge thereof above the ground so that the vehicle can move under normalconditions. However, the safety barrier is positioned close enough tothe ground so that if an object is encountered, the safety barrierforces the object out from under the vehicle to a position out of thepath of the wheels of the vehicle. .The frontal guard can be mounted toeither the vehicle body or chassis, or to the vehicle axle or suspensionsystem. When used with vehicles that include a wheel that turns inwardlyor outwardly with respect to the transverse axis of the vehicle, theinvention further provides means to turn the safety barrier to track themovement of the wheel.

The frontal guard may also be provided with a front skirt comprising astrip of material, such as 3/4 thick rubber, that extends from thefrontal guard to the surface over which the vehicle travels. This skirtis sufficiently rigid that it can push aside movable objects such as afoot of a human being. Yet the material is resilient enough that it willdeform and rebound to its prior shape when it encounters fixed objects,such as protruding manhole covers. Similarly, the frontal guard may alsobe provided with a side skirt, comprising either one or more strips ofthe same type of material as the front skirt. The side skirt serves asimilar function of pushing aside movable objects while yielding tofixed objects.

The present invention may also be provided with a wheel molding thatextends from the wheel well over the top of the wheel of the vehicle. Byextending over the top of the wheel, the wheel molding preventsindividuals from placing their hands, arms, or other limbs between thewheel and body of the vehicle. The wheel molding can also be constructedin the form of a fairing which covers the wheel to provide safetyadvantages.

While the invention has particular utility in combination with buses, itis also effective to prevent or reduce injuries by almost any vehicle,including but not limited to conventional passenger automobiles, trucks,and even smaller vehicles such as lawn mowers.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide asafety guard for a vehicle. Other and further objects and advantageswill appear hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bus type vehicle including safetyguards according to this invention attached to the front and rear rightside wheel wells.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the safety guard attached to a vehicle andshows how the wheel molding of the safety guard overlies a wheel thatdoes not turn inwardly or outwardly with respect to the transverse axisof the vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3--3 in FIG. 2 illustratingthe placement of the wheel molding of the safety guard relative to awheel of the vehicle that does not turn inwardly or outwardly withrespect to the transverse axis of the vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a view taken along line 4--4 in FIG. 2 illustrating thepositioning of the safety barrier with respect to the vehicle wheel.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the position of the safetybarrier with respect to the wheel.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the safety barrier illustrating themounting of the frontal guard to the body mount.

FIG. 7 is a view taken along line 7--7 in FIG. 6 illustrating thereinforced molding of the frontal guard.

FIG. 8 is a view taken along line 8--8 in FIG. 4 illustrating themounting of the frontal guard to the body mount and the mounting of thebody mount to the vehicle body.

FIG. 9 illustrates the mounting of the safety barrier to the axle of thevehicle.

FIG. 10 is a view taken along line 10--10 in FIG. 9 illustrating axlebrackets connected to the vehicle axle and the mounting of the frontalguard to the axle brackets.

FIG. 11 is a side view of the safety barrier attached to a wheel welland shows how the wheel molding of the safety barrier overlies a wheelthat turns inwardly or outwardly with respect to the transverse axis ofthe vehicle.

FIG. 12 is a view taken along line 12--12 in FIG. 11 illustrating thepositioning of the safety barrier with respect to the wheel, themounting of the safety barrier to the suspension, and the positioning ofthe wheel molding with respect to the wheel.

FIG. 13 illustrates a futuristic bus design with fairing wheel coversand safety barriers.

FIG. 14 illustrates the fairing wheel cover and the placement of thesafety barrier.

FIG. 15 is a view taken along line 15--15 in FIG. 14 illustratingflexible recordian material connected to fairing wheel covers and theability of the fairing wheel cover to move tracking the movement of awheel that turns inwardly or outwardly with respect to the transverseaxis of the vehicle.

FIG. 16 is an exploded view of the fairing wheel cover, the connectionof the fairing wheel cover to the vehicle, and the connection of thesafety barrier to the vehicle.

FIG. 17 illustrates the mounting of another safety barrier arrangementin accordance with the present invention to a vehicle chassis.

FIG. 18 is an exploded view of the safety barrier arrangement depictedin FIG. 17.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the Figures, a safety barrier 20 and a wheel molding 32 areshown mounted to a vehicle 22 in FIG. 1. The vehicle 22 shown is in theform of a bus. As shown in more detail in FIG. 2, the bus includes awheel 24, wheel well 26, and vehicle body 28. It will be readilyappreciated that a vehicle of this general type can cause considerableinjury to animate, as well as inanimate objects if driven over them, orif the objects are caught between the wheel and vehicle body. Suchinjuries can result from the wheels, chassis, or axles located betweenwheels. Considerable damage to the vehicle can also result if it isdriven over solid or heavy inanimate objects.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 5, a safety barrier 20 is located such thatit generally faces obliquely with respect to the transverse axis of thevehicle 22 and is positioned to extend to a marginal distance above thesurface 30 over which the vehicle 22 travels. Additionally, a wheelmolding 32 is located such that it overlies the gap between theoutermost edge of the wheel 24 and the wheel well 26.

As shown in FIG. 3, the wheel molding 32 may be connected to the vehiclebody 28 around the edge that comprises the wheel well 26 with aplurality of bolts 34, screws, pins, clamps, clasps, or other attachmentmeans widely known in the art. The wheel molding may be made of anysuitably rigid material such as resin, plastic, rubber, metal, or wood.

As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, in a preferred embodiment, the safetybarrier 20 extends substantially across the wheels 24 in the transverseaxis of the vehicle 22. The safety barrier 20 is mounted to the vehiclebody 28.

The safety barrier 20 may be constructed in one piece. Or, in thepreferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6 the safety barrier 20, mayconsist of two pieces including a body mount 36 and a frontal guard 38.The body mount 36 may be made of any rigid and durable material such asmetal. The frontal guard 38 may be connected to the body mount 36 with aplurality of bolts 40, screws, pins, clamps, clasps, or other attachmentmeans widely known in the art. The frontal guard 38 may be may be madeof any material that exhibits both resilience and rigidity, such asrubber.

Additionally, in an embodiment not shown, the frontal guard may beprovided with a front skirt. The front skirt may be made of materialthat exhibits both rigidity and resilience, such as three-quarter inchthick rubber. The front skirt attaches to the frontal edge of thefrontal guard with a plurality of bolts, screws, pins, clamps, clasps,or other attachment means widely known in the art. Similarly the frontalguard may be provided with a side skirt. The side skirt connects to thefrontal guard along an outer edge of the frontal guard with a pluralityof bolts, screws, pins, clamps, clasps, or other attachment means widelyknown in the art. The front skirt and side skirt extend from the frontalguard to a marginal distance above the surface 30.

FIG. 7 illustrates a molding of the material of the frontal guard 38that may increase its rigidity. The frontal guard 38 will be rigid inplaces where it is likely to come into contact with a limb or othermovable object. By being sufficiently rigid the frontal guard 38 willeffectively force the limb or other movable object out of the path ofthe wheel 24 of the vehicle 22. Additionally, the frontal guard 38 willbe resilient in places where it is likely to encounter immovableobstacles such as curbs. By being sufficiently resilient, the frontalguard 38 may bend to accommodate immovable objects, thereby avoidingdamage to the safety barrier 20. The thickness of the frontal guard willvary depending on what type of material is used in its construction.When constructed with rubber, the frontal guard may have a thicknessvarying from three-quarters of an inch to one and one-half inches, moreor less.

As shown in FIG. 8, the frontal guard 38 has embedded within it afrontal guard mounting reinforcement 42. The frontal guard mountingreinforcement 42 may be made of a rigid material such as metal. Thefrontal guard mounting reinforcement 42 serves to reinforce theconnection between the frontal guard 38 and the body mount 36. Thus, thefrontal guard mounting reinforcement 42 helps prevent tears that mayhave occurred had the frontal guard mounting reinforcement 42 beenabsent. The body mount 36 may be connected to the vehicle body 28 with aplurality of bolts 46, screws, pins, clamps, clasps, or other attachmentmeans widely known in the art.

As shown in FIG. 9, in another embodiment, the safety barrier 20 ismounted with a first axle bracket 46 and a second axle bracket 48 to aportion of the vehicle 22 that remains relatively stable with respect tothe wheel 24 of the vehicle 22 in the vertical direction. The vehicleaxle 50 is a suitable mount. By mounting the safety barrier 20 to anunsprung portion of the vehicle 22 such as the vehicle axle 50, thesafety barrier will track the shock absorbing movements of wheel 24,rather than the movements of the vehicle body 28 and will relativelyinfrequently impact the surface 30 over which the vehicle 22 travels,thus extending the useful life of the frontal safety barrier 20.

As shown in FIG. 10, a first axle bracket 46 and a second axle bracket48 secure the safety barrier 20 above the surface 30 over which thevehicle 22 travels. The first axle bracket 46 and the second axlebracket 48 encircle the vehicle axle 50, and are fastened to each otherwith a plurality of bolts 52, screws, pins, clamps, clasps, or otherattachment means widely known in the art. The second axle bracket 48extends from the vehicle axle 50 beyond the outer edge of the wheel 24and toward the surface 30 over which the vehicle 22 travels.

As shown in FIG. 9, the second axle bracket 48 is connected to a bracketguard mount 54 which extends from the second axle bracket across thewidth of the frontal guard 38. The second axle bracket 48 mounts to thebracket guard mount 54 with a plurality of bolts 56, screws, pins,clamps, clasps, or other attachment means widely known in the art. Thebracket guard mount 54 includes a plurality of adjustment slots 58 thatallow for vertical adjustment of the frontal guard. The position of thesafety barrier 20 is adjusted so that the safety barrier 20 is placed apredetermined distance above the surface 30. That distance may beapproximately one-inch above the surface 30. The bracket guard mount 54is designed such that the portion of the bracket guard mount 54 thatwill be closest to the outer edge of the vehicle, when mounted, does notextend as far downwards to the surface 30 as does the portion of thebracket guard mount 54 that is closest to the center of the vehicle,when mounted. Such a configuration of the bracket guard mount 54 allowsthe outer edge of the frontal guard 38 to collapse and be more resilientwhen encountering curbs and other immovable obstacles, while retaininggreater rigidity towards the center of the vehicle 22.

As further shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, a guide bolt 58 extends upwardsfrom the bracket guard mount through a guide bolt mount 60. A guide boltnut 62 is securely fastened to the guide bolt 58. This constructionprovides for flexibility in the vertical movement of the safety barrier20, while retaining limits on how far upwards and downwards the safetybarrier may extend. As shown in FIG. 10, the guide bolt mount 60attaches to the vehicle body 28 with a bolt 64, screw, pin, clamp,clasp, or other attachment means widely known in the art.

FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 illustrate another embodiment that can be used witha wheel 24 that turns inwardly or outwardly with respect to thetransverse axis of the vehicle 22. In this embodiment a turning wheelmolding 66 tracks the surface of the wheel well 26, but unlike the wheelmolding 32 shown in FIG. 3, the turning wheel molding 66 does not extendover the wheel 24 in a horizontal plane.

FIG. 12 illustrates another aspect of this embodiment. In thisembodiment, the frontal guard 38 tracks the movement of the wheel 24 asthe wheel turns inward and outward with respect to the transverse axisof the vehicle 22. A suspension guard mount 68 attaches on a first endto the vehicle suspension system. On a second end the suspension guardmount 68 attaches to the frontal guard 38. A movement arm 70 connects tothe suspension guard mount 68 and moves the suspension guard mount 68and frontal guard 38 to track the inward and outward movements of thewheel 24. The inward and outward movements of the wheel 24 are sensedand the movement arm 70 is moved in accordance therewith by conventionalmeans (not shown).

FIG. 13 illustrates a futuristically-designed vehicle 72 equipped withfairing wheel covers 74 and safety barriers 20. FIG. 14 furtherillustrates the fairing wheel cover 72 and shows a body mounted safetybarrier 20 attached to the vehicle body 28.

In an embodiment illustrated in FIG. 15, the fairing wheel cover 74overlies the wheel 24 and the fairing wheel cover 74 tracks the movementof a wheel 24 that turns inwardly or outwardly with respect to thetransverse axis of the vehicle 72. In this embodiment, fairing movementarms 76 cause the fairing wheel cover 74 to turn when the wheel 24 turnsso that the wheel 24 does not strike the fairing wheel cover 74. Theturning of the wheel 24 is sensed by conventional means (not shown), andthe actuation of the fairing movement arms 76 is performed byconventional means (not shown). Flexible recordian material 78 isincluded within the fairing wheel cover 74 to keep the wheel 24 coveredwhen the wheel turns inwardly or outwardly with respect to thetransverse axis of the vehicle. FIG. 15 also illustrates the extendedposition of the fairing movement arm 76, the extension of the flexiblerecordian material 78 and the extended position of the fairing wheelcover 74, that exists when the wheel 24 turns inwardly or outwardly withrespect to the transverse axis of the vehicle 72.

The details of the construction of the fairing wheel cover 74 for awheel 24 that does not turn inwardly or outwardly with respect to thetransverse axis of the vehicle, and the mounting of the safety barrier20 to the vehicle body 28, are shown in FIG. 16. A main fairing panel 80attaches to the vehicle body 28 with a plurality of bolts 82, screws,pins, clamps, clasps, or other attachment means widely known in the art.A wheel panel 84 attaches to the main fairing panel 80 with a pluralityof bolts 86, screws, pins, clamps, clasps, or other attachment meanswidely known in the art. A wheel window covering panel 88 attaches to aflanged portion of the wheel panel 84 with a plurality of bolts 90,screws, pins, clamps, clasps, or other attachment means widely known inthe art.

The safety barrier 20 is also shown in FIG. 16. In the embodiment shownhere, the safety barrier 28 attaches to the vehicle body 28 with aplurality of bolts 44, screws, pins, clamps, clasps, or other attachmentmeans widely known in the art. The safety barrier 20 may be mounted to afuturistic vehicle 72 in any manner described above. That is, the safetybarrier 20 may be fixedly mounted to the vehicle body 28, the safetybarrier 20 may be mounted to a vehicle axle 50 (this manner ofattachment not illustrated in FIG. 16), or the safety barrier 20 may bemounted so as to track the movement of a wheel 24 that turns inwardly oroutwardly with respect to the transverse axis of the vehicle (thismanner of attachment not illustrated in FIG. 16).

FIG. 17 generally illustrates at 100 another safety barrier constructedin accordance with the present invention. This safety barrier ispreferably used in combination with a wheel molding 101 which isconstructed in a substantially identical manner to that described abovewith respect to wheel molding 66, however, it should be understood thatneither of these moldings is limited for use on just the steerablewheels of the vehicle 22.

With specific reference to FIG. 18, safety barrier 100 includes a lowerportion 102, a central portion 104 and an upper portion 106. Lowerportion 102 actually includes a lowermost portion 110 that is formedwith a plurality of spaced through holes 112. Lowermost portion 110 isactually recessed from an outer surface of lower portion 102 such that aledge 115 is defined. Lowermost portion 110 is specifically adapted tohave secured thereto a wear strip 118 having a main body portion 120.Main body portion 120 preferably has secured thereto a plurality of wearpads 122. As safety barrier 100 is formed from an elastic material suchas urethane, it is preferable to utilize wear pads 122 which, in turn,are preferably made from a hardened steel. Wear pads 122 permit safetybarrier 100 to have an extended life since, on occasion, safety barrier100 will likely encounter obstacles such as curbs and the like. Bodyportion 120 of wear strip 118 carries a plurality of spaced fastenermember 124 which are adapted to extend through openings 112 provided inlowermost portion 110. Fasteners 124 can take various forms but arepreferably threaded fasteners which can extend through respective holes112 and are used in combination with nuts (not shown) for fixedlysecuring wear strip 118 to lowermost portion 110.

Central portion 104, as clearly depicted in these Figures, is generallybellows-like in construction which advantageously provides a limiteddegree of flexibility to safety barrier 100. Therefore, if safetybarrier 100 was to hit a fixed obstacle during use of the vehicle 22,central portion 104 will provide a limited degree of flexibility toprevent safety barrier 100 from breaking. However, central portion 104is sufficiently rigid such that forces exerted upon safety barrier 100by movable objects can be readily counteracted. Upper portion 106 ofsafety barrier 100 is formed with an upwardly extending side flange 124which is shaped to conform with wheel molding 101, as well as the bodyof vehicle 22, as clearly shown in FIG. 17. Upper portion 106 is alsoformed with a mounting portion that has embedded therein a mountingplate 132. Welded or otherwise fixedly secured to mounting plate 132 isan upstanding polygonal-shaped mounting post 134. Mounting post 134 isprovided with aligned apertures, one of which is indicated at 136.

Mounting post 134 is adapted to be received within a fixed mounting tube140 carried by an auxiliary mounting plate 142. Mounting tube 140 iscorrespondingly polygonal-shaped and is provided with aligned apertures150. Auxiliary mounting plate 142 is adapted to be welded or otherwisefixedly secured to a chassis member 145 of vehicle 22. With thisconstruction, safety barrier 100 can be readily secured to vehicle 22 ina non-rotatable manner by inserting mounting post 134 within mountingtube 140 and inserting a pin 152 through aligned apertures 136 and 150.Pin 152 preferably has a through hole (not shown) at an end thereofwhich can receive a cotter pin or the like to selectively maintain pin152 in the aligned apertures 136 and 150.

From the above description, it should be readily apparent that safetybarrier 100 can be readily attached to or removed from vehicle 22 in asafe and convenient manner. Although only a single attachmentarrangement is illustrated between safety barrier 100 and vehicle 22, itshould be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art thatvarious types of attaching arrangements could be provided and additionalattachment structures could also be utilized. Utilizing polygonal-shapedmounting members in the manner described above permits safety barrier100 to be fixedly secured to vehicle 22 in a non-rotatable manner. Inthe preferred embodiment depicted and illustrated in FIG. 17, wheel trim101 is preferably constituted by a flexible urethane member that extendslaterally outwardly from the body of vehicle 22 a distance Aapproximately equal to 11/2-2 inches, the rearmost portion of safetybarrier 100 is spaced from wheel 24 a distance B which is preferablyapproximately 2 inches and safety barrier 100 is preferably spaced adistance C from a ground supporting surface in the range ofapproximately 3 inches. Of course, these distances could change withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. At this point, it shouldalso be recognized that safety barrier 100 is curved in a manner similarto that described above with respect to the other safety barriersillustrated in the drawings such that the safety barrier 100 is locatedfurther rearward of the vehicle 22 at a laterally outwardmost portionthan at a lateral inward portion such that safety barrier 100 will tendto guide an animate body that is accidentally positioned beneath vehicle22 laterally outwardly so as to prevent the animate body from extendingunder wheel 22 and being crushed.

Thus, a safety guard is disclosed. While embodiments and applications ofthis invention have been shown and described, it would be apparent tothose skilled in the art that many more modifications are possiblewithout departing from the inventive concepts herein. The invention,therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appendedclaims.

We claim:
 1. In a vehicle having at least two, front steerable wheels, which are spaced in a transverse direction of a body of the vehicle and located rearwardly of a forwardmost side door of the vehicle, and at least one pair of transversely spaced rear wheels which are longitudinally spaced from said front wheels, a safety guard for deflecting animate body parts from in front of at least one of the vehicle's front and rear wheels so as to prevent the animate body parts from being run-over and crushed by the at least one of the vehicle's front and rear wheels comprising:a frontal guard piece having an upper end portion and a lower end portion which are interconnected by a central body portion, said body portion including an arcuate outer surface, at least a portion of said frontal guard piece being formed from an elastic material; and means for mounting said frontal guard piece to the body of the vehicle, at a position spaced a marginal distance in front of the at least one of the vehicle's front and rear wheels, rearward of at least a major portion of the forwardmost side door and a slight distance above a ground surface over which said vehicle travels, with said frontal guard piece projecting downward below the body portion of the vehicle such that animate body parts positioned in front of the at least one of the vehicle's front and rear wheels will be deflected by the frontal guard piece transversely outwardly with respect to the body of the vehicle in order to prevent the animate body parts from being run-over and crushed by the at least one of the vehicle's front and rear wheels during movement of the vehicle over the ground surface, said mounting means including a body mounting member adapted to be secured to the vehicle, a mounting plate embedded in the upper end portion of said frontal guard piece, a mounting tube attached to one of the body mounting member and the mounting plate, and a mounting post attached to the other of the body mounting member and the mounting plate wherein the mounting post is received in the mounting tube to mount the frontal guard piece to the vehicle with said frontal guard piece being arranged at an oblique angle to the transverse direction of the body of the vehicle.
 2. In a vehicle having at least two, front steerable wheels, which are spaced in a transverse direction of a body of the vehicle and located rearwardly of a forwardmost side door of the vehicle, and at least one pair of transversely spaced rear wheels which are longitudinally spaced from said front wheels, a safety guard for deflecting animate body parts from in front of at least one of the vehicle's front and rear wheels so as to prevent the animate body parts from being run-over and crushed by the at least one of the vehicle's front and rear wheels comprising:a frontal guard piece having an upper end portion and a lower end portion which are interconnected by a central body portion, said central body portion including an arcuate outer surface, at least a portion of said frontal guard piece being formed from an elastic material, wherein the central body portion of said frontal guard piece constitutes a bellows-like portion which is more flexible than the upper end portion and the lower end portion of said frontal guard piece; and means for mounting said frontal guard piece to the body of the vehicle, at a position spaced a marginal distance in front of the at least one of the vehicle's front and rear wheels, rearward of at least a major portion of the forwardmost side door and a slight distance above a ground surface over which said vehicle travels, with said frontal guard piece projecting downward below the body portion of the vehicle such that animate body parts positioned in front of the at least one of the vehicle's front and rear wheels will be deflected by the frontal guard piece transversely outwardly with respect to the body of the vehicle in order to prevent the animate body parts from being run-over and crushed by the at least one of the vehicle's front and rear wheels during movement of the vehicle over the ground surface, said mounting means including a body mounting member adapted to be secured to the vehicle with said frontal guard piece being arranged at an oblique angle to the transverse direction of the body of the vehicle.
 3. In a vehicle having at least two, front steerable wheels, which are spaced in a transverse direction of a body of the vehicle and located rearwardly of a forwardmost side door of the vehicle, and at least one pair of transversely spaced rear wheels which are longitudinally spaced from said front wheels, a safety guard for deflecting animate body parts from in front of at least one of the vehicle's front and rear wheels so as to prevent the animate body parts from being run-over and crushed by the at least one of the vehicle's front and rear wheels comprising:a frontal guard piece having an upper end portion and a lower end portion which are interconnected by a central body portion, said body portion including an arcuate outer surface, at least a portion of said front guard piece being formed from an elastic material; a wear strip fixedly secured to the lower end portion of said frontal guard piece, said wear strip being provided with at least one wear pad at a lowermost portion thereof; means for mounting said frontal guard piece to the body of the vehicle, at a position spaced a marginal distance in front of the at least one of the vehicle's front and rear wheels, rearward of at least a major portion of the forwardmost side door and a slight distance above a ground surface over which said vehicle travels, with said frontal guard piece projecting downward below the body portion of the vehicle such that animate body parts positioned in front of the at least one of the vehicle's front and rear wheels will be deflected by the frontal guard piece transversely outwardly with respect to the body of the vehicle in order to prevent the animate body parts from being run-over and crushed by the at least one of the vehicle's front and rear wheels during movement of the vehicle over the ground surface, said mounting means including a body mounting member adapted to be secured to the vehicle with said frontal guard piece being arranged at an oblique angle to the transverse direction of the body of the vehicle.
 4. A safety guard for a vehicle, said vehicle having a first wheel, a first wheel well, a gap between said wheel and said wheel well, a transverse vehicle axis, a suspension system and a vehicle body, said safety guard comprising:(a) a frontal guard piece with a first surface generally facing obliquely with respect to said transverse vehicle axis, said frontal guard being spaced a marginal distance from the surface over which said vehicle travels; and (b) a suspension guard mount attached on a first end to said suspension system and attached on a second end to said frontal guard piece said suspension guard mount being movable inward and outward in unison with said wheel with respect to said transverse vehicle axis; and (c) movement means for shifting said wheel inward and outward upon steering of the vehicle, said movement means being connected to said suspension guard mount to move said suspension guard mount and to move said frontal guard piece to track inward and outward movements of said wheel with respect to said transverse vehicle axis such that animate body parts positioned in front of said wheel will be deflected by the frontal guard piece transversely outwardly with respect to the vehicle body in order to prevent the animate body parts from being run-over and crushed by said wheel during movement of the vehicle over said surface.
 5. The safety guard according to claim 4, wherein said frontal guard piece is formed of rubber.
 6. The safety guard according to claim 4, wherein said safety guard further comprises a turning wheel molding mounting to said wheel well, said turning wheel molding including a contoured surface for overlying all but a marginal distance of said gap between said wheel and said wheel well.
 7. The safety guard according to claim 4, wherein said safety guard further comprises a fairing wheel cover attached to said wheel well, said fairing wheel cover comprising at least one panel, said panel overlying said wheel.
 8. The safety guard according to claim 6, wherein said fairing wheel cover further comprises:(a) at least one movement arm connected to said panel; and (b) means, connected to said movement arm, for actuating said movement arm to track the turning of said wheel. 